Game of Thrones Episode Review: “Hardhome”

So quite a few things happened last night. We saw that Cersei is still locked up and awaiting trial. She is being treated about as well as I suspect anyone who has ever been her prisoner has been treated and it was said that Tommen won’t leave his room and Jaime is unreachable so things are not looking good for Cersei right now.

Dany banished Jorah (again), but has taken Tyrion into her service. She also told him a bit of her plans.

We also saw a bit of the Stark sisters. Arya is improving on her training to becoming faceless and has been sent on a mission. I’m definitely liking her storyline a lot more now that she’s back to being badass Arya. It was also finally revealed to Sansa that Bran and Rickon are alive after Theon accidentally confessed to her that he never killed them. I was very excited about this because now she knows they’re out there she can escape and go look for them. And if Brienne is the one to help Sansa escape, Brienne knows Arya is alive which means that there is a chance four (possibly five) Stark/Snow siblings could eventually be reunited.

Which brings me to the thing I really want and need to talk about. It seems that where Jon Snow goes, epic battle sequences follow. Last night was no different. Jon, some men of the Night’s Watch, and one of the Wildlings finally reached their destination and thus began the difficult task of convincing the Wildlings to return to The Wall with them.

They managed to convince some of them (about 5000), but as they were getting into the boats, the White Walkers and their Army of the Dead attacked, slaughtering many of the Wildlings.

Did anyone else see this coming? As soon as the female Wilding (who was only in the show for about five minutes, but who I really liked already), got her two kids into the boat and then went back to help others, I just knew something was going to happen. She wouldn’t have not gone with them unless something bad was going to happen. Which it did. I almost thought for a second that she was going to be alright, but then she ended up being eaten by several dead children, which was really horrible irony.

Also, before I go any further, can we take a moment to appreciate that all the Wildlings think Jon is very pretty?

We also learned last night that Jon’s sword can kill White Walkers. Not sure how this is possible so I’m looking forward to that explanation and I have a feeling Sam is going to have a field day with this information.

The battle was truly amazing. One thing Game of Thrones never fails to deliver is epic, dramatic fights. I’m always astounded that they manage to put together these fights that are so large and there’s so much going on, but they’re not confusing. They pick a few characters and then go back and forth between them. This makes it easy for viewers to focus and know what’s going on without taking away from the battle.

At the end of the episode we see who I guess is the head White Walker raise his arms and all the Wildlings they had killed get to their feet, now part of the Army of the Dead.

Admit it, we were all thinking it.
*Edit is not mine*

Honestly, this was probably one of my favourite episodes of the season. This was episode eight and I’m excited to see what’s coming in the final two episodes. Stannis is getting closer to Winterfell, Sansa knows her brothers are alive, Winter is coming. If the fight in last night’s episode was of epic proportions, I can’t even imagine what the battle for Winterfell is going to look like.

What did you think of last night’s episode? What do you think is coming?